Chop-separator



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. j l

JOHN It. DAvIs, Jn., or NEENAH, WIsooNsIN.

cH'oP-SEPARATQR.

- SPECIFICATION forming para of Letters Patent No, 380,091, aateaivrarcn 27, laca.

l Application filed February 23,*18841. Serial No. 26,739. (No model.) I

.To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN R. DAVIS, Jr., ofl

l My linvention relates to apparatus designed f chieiiy to act upon the stream of chop as it v comes directly or indirectly from the reducing mechanism, and to take out thek iour, fluffy material, and ne dust and send them to the dust-room and thence to bolts, while the middlings are carried on, graded or ungraded, to

the purifiers; and it consists in certain combinations 'hereinafter described, and pointed `out in the claims.

Y The primary object of my present invention is to simplify the construction of machines for acting upon chop and taking out the flour, dust, and Iluffy material, having the pure middlings to pass either in anungraded or graded condition to the purifiers, and to removesaid matters as soon after the entrance of the chop into,the machine as practicable, in order that there maybe as little wear of the particles, and consequently as little production of dust, as possible. n

To this end I so construct the machine that v the chop is caused to gravitate over screens which effect a separation of the heavier particles,and to be acted upon in falling from` one screen to another by air-currents which take out the lighter matters.

In. the three iigures of the drawings I have 'represented in vertical section several slightlyvarying but equivalent and optional forms of the machine embodying my improvements.

The apparatus embraces in each instance a casing or chest, A, of any suitable material, a series, B, of inclined screens, a suction-charm ber, O, and one or more suction-fans, D.

The chop to be. operated upon may be received directly from reducing rolls or stones, or the machine may be furnished with a hopper and supplied in any convenient and suitable manner. l Entering at the top of the machine the chop is guided by an inclined board, E, to thehead of the first screen, a, of the s e-V ries, through which the liner particles pass, partially by reason of gravity and partly because of the suction of the fan D, communicating with the `chamber G' below the screens. This suction also tends tohug the material to the screens and thus to prevent its passing too rapidly over 'thesame Such materialas fails `to pass through the -iirst screen fallsjfromv the tail of the-same to thehead of the next screen, b, below, and so on throughout the entire series. A s shown in the several figures, the screens are arrangedone below another, the tail of one projecting more or less Ibeyond a vertical line drawn from the head ofthe next, so that the material passing off over thetail of one may fall upon Vthe next With certainty; and in order that the material may in levery case fall upon the head of the screen,A a directing-board, c, is placed just below the tail of each screen, intersecting the line of the falling tailings, so as to deflect them upon the head Vo f the next, as shown. will of course depend on the arrangement ofthe screens, ranged in a vertical than when in an inclined series. A space, d, is left between the tail of -each screen andthe head of the next, through which spaces currents o f air are drawn by the fan or fans D. rIhese air-currents cross and pass through the material falling from one screen to another, and also through the Ina'- terial which passes through the meshes of the screens as it falls therefrom, taking out the dust, liour, andlight or iiuffy matters, and carrying them through the fan-case to the dust-room, while the. middlings fall down within the chest, and are collected therein or delivered into hoppers and conducted off to puriliers or other receivers. The chop in passing over the successive screens and falling from one to another has' the middlings as well as the lighter matters completely' taken out, andthe tailings finally pass off at the end of the lower screen. v

rIhe width of such boardy being greater when the'screensare ar'- r If desired, the screens may be graded to fall ing material being guided thereby clear of the screen beneath and caused to fall into the sucthe material is causedto travel more rapidly and to have its direction more suddenly changed, its particles being thus more violently agitated and loosened up for the action of the screens and air-currents. The screens are also in some cases mounted in a frame, G, common to all, and removable bodily from the casing or chest, and in other cases separately secured therein. The fan is likewise placed directly within the chest, as in Figs. l and 3,

below the screens or above them, and either within the same chest or in a case communieating with the suction-chamber thereof, as in Fig. 2, these being mere matters of detail controlled by the space available for the reception of the machine, the location of the other machinery with which it is to operate, and like matters. In some cases, and particularly when the fan is located directly in the lower part of the chest, it is advisable to place a board, H, beneath the upper sieves or screens, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, to carry the material passing through them sucently inward from the fan to prevent the latter from drawing the middlings o with the other matters.

In order to control the force of the draft, the fan-case may be furnished with gates or valves f, to regulate the size of the inlet-openings thereof; but in order to more perfectly control the suction in different parts of the chest I employ a series of hinged slats or valves, g, preferably connected in groups in the same manner as slats of Venetian blinds, varying their location according to the particular form of the machine or other circumstance. In Fig. l the valves are shown arranged at the back of the chest, forming one side of a trunk, I, and divided into several groups, one for each screen, boards or partitions h, extending from.

the several points of meeting of the di'erent sections toward the screens, to properly direct the air to the different valve-sections, and to localize the area of draft controlled thereby. In Fig. 2 the valves, arranged in a similar manner, are shown at the front of the chest, and in Fig. 3 the valves are represented as arranged inthe rear of the chest close to the fan, but without the boards used in Fig. 1 to localize the currents.

If it be desired to grade the middlings, the hoppers .I will be formed at the bottom of the chest leading to suitable receptacles, and having hinged cut-ois or dividing-boards K, as shown, to vary the point of separation.

In some cases it may be found desirable to employ a continuous screen instead of a series, and in such case the screen may be graded or not, as found expedient. When a single screen is employed, or when the screens are mounted in a common frame, a knocker, L, may be employed to jar the frame and prevent particles of matter from clogging the meshes of the screen or screens, and to cause it to travel down the same; or separate knockers may be employed for the respective screens, `whether mounted in a common frame or secured permanentl y in the casin g. The screen or screens, or the frame with the" screens and deiiecting boards mountedtherein, may also be given a shaking motion, especially when the angle of inclination is reduced.

In order that the material may not be too much worn or broken by air. passing from screen to screen, the directing-boards c may be curved, as represented in Fig.V 1, or they may be' hinged or pivoted and placed at different inclinations, according to the nature of the material under treatment.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. In a chop-separator, the combination, with a seriesk of inclined screens arranged with intervals between the tail of each and the head of the next succeeding, of a suction-chamber on the lower side thereof, a fan -or fans whereby air-currents are drawn through the interstices of said screens and through the intervals between them, and valves or gates whereby the currents may be moderated or shut oli' over any area of the series.

2. In a chop separator, the combination, with a series of sharply-inclined screens arranged with intervals between the tail of each and the head of the next succeeding, of boards arranged to intercept the tailings of thesuccessive screens and direct them to the head of the next, fenders which deflect the material passing through each screen into the suctionchamber beneath, and a fan or fans arranged in or connecting with such suction-chamber,

`whereby air-currents are drawn through the interstices of the screens and through the streams descending upon their heads.

3. In a chop separator, the combination, with an inclined frameholding aseries of louverwise screens with intersecting returningboards, of a knocker or knockers arranged to jar said frame as the material is being fed.

4. In a chop-separator, the combination, with an inclined frame holding a series of louverwise screens with intersecting returningboards, of a knocker or knockers arranged to jar said frame as the material is being fed, and afan or fans arranged to draw air-currents through said frame and downward through the interstices of the screens held therein.

5. In combination with a screen or screens, a fan or fans arranged to draw air through the same in the direction in which the screenings pass, boards or partitions dividing the air- I IVO currents into separate currents to act upon different portions of the screen or screens,and-

valves for independently regulating the separate air-currents. I 5 6. In combination with a vertical series of inclined screens and a vertical series of inter- Seating boards, a suction-chamber-located at one side of the series on the under side of the screens, Aa partition or partitions intersecting ro the screen surface andforming independent draft-areas, a fan communicating with the suc-V tion-chamber and serving to draw air through the screens, and valves for independently regulating the draft of the different areas. r 5 7. In combination with a series of screens arranged with intervalsbetween the tail of each and the head of the next succeeding, a suction-chamber beneath the screens, a fan or fans communicating with the chamber and drawing air through the openings between 2o the screens, and boards or slats placed at said openings and adapted to control the air-currents through them.

8. In combination'with a series of screens arranged louverwise, a series of adjustable in-` z 5 tersecting boards'adapted to direct the ma` terial from the tail of one screen to the head ofthe next, substantially as described.

` JOHN R. DAVIS, JR.

Witnesses:

ALEX MONAUGHTON, JOHN SHIELLs. 

